(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to musical instrument strings, and more particularly refers to an apparatus for modifying the surface of the strings to prevent the production of noise when the fingers are slid along the strings.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Musical instrument strings are manufactured by winding a fine metal wire around a core. The wire may be formed of silver, copper, alloys of either or both, or aluminum. The cores are formed of gut, nylon, or metal wire such as steel. Since the fine wire wound around the core has a substantially circular cross-section in order to provide good intonation, when the player moves his fingers along the strings, since the peaks of the wire are spaced apart, a considerable amount of noise results. Various means have been utilized to modify the string to avoid or reduce the degree of noise. In one method, the string is ground with a centerless grinder after the string has been wound to produce a flat surface. This method has a disadvantage in that the mass of the wire winding is reduced. To compensate for this, it has been found necessary to use both a larger diameter core and a larger diameter covering wire. To utilize a string manufactured by this method, it is necessary to increase the amount of tension required to bring the string to pitch. This adversely affects the intonation of the string. Another method which has been used in the prior art is called Roller Wound. Here the round cover wire is pulled through a pair of rollers and a flat is put on both the top and bottom side of the cover wire prior to winding the wire about the core. The disadvantage of this method is that a larger portion of the covering wire is in contact with the core at one of the flat surfaces. This adds considerable stiffness to the string. Another disadvantage is that it is not always possible to ensure that the flat portion lies parallel to the core wire. When mis-positioning of this type occurs, a sawtooth effect results and the string feels rough to the player. Additionally, this adversely affects the intonation of the string.
It has been found that the ideal string is one where the cover wire is round and the only contact made with the core is at the point of tangency with the cover wire. When the right combination of core and cover wire size is used, the intonation of the string is perfect and the harmonics are readily discernible to the trained ear. The only objection found in this ideal string is the resulting finger noise which is heard as the player slides his fingers up and down the string. Additionally, the core wire is stretched during the winding process which may cause minute breaks in the surface. This factor in addition to the radius itself results in excessive fret wear.